Crisp pixel art, a radical soundtrack, tight movement, and some great variety within the level design really help this game stand out from it's contemporaries. This being my 3rd time going through the game, I went for the 100% completion route so I could get the fabled 'Hadouken' and I had a lot of fun tracking down each upgrade in order to achieve this, even if the final step of the process felt pretty tedious. A secret of this caliber existing within the game is just so playful and joyous. It feels reminiscent of an era of gaming mostly lost in time; one where the implicated effects on series continuity going forward weren't even a consideration. They had a fun idea so they put in the game, and I can't deny how hilarious it felt to use.
To address the proverbial elephant in the room, the 'dash' ability had no business being trapped in a specific level as it is just far too essential for X's movement to feel satisfying to be missable early. It should have either been in the intro stage, or included in X's base kit as it is in the future installments. One other complaint, which is less with this game in particular and more of an issue with the Mega Man series in general, is that I've never been a huge fan of how using the appropriate weapon on the boss which it counters completely neutralizes any semblance of challenge. It's iconic and fun in concept, but it leads to some pretty underwhelming boss battles in practice which results in me usually sticking exclusively to the buster in these fights. I feel like this could probably be resolved simply by further limiting your available ammunition for the boss weapons or by just having the weapon grant you a mechanical advantage ONLY instead of doing so while also dishing out a huge heap of additional damage. Of course, self imposing restrictions on usage of these weapons (as I do) is also a valid solution but it just can't help but feel like a bit of a missed opportunity.
To address the proverbial elephant in the room, the 'dash' ability had no business being trapped in a specific level as it is just far too essential for X's movement to feel satisfying to be missable early. It should have either been in the intro stage, or included in X's base kit as it is in the future installments. One other complaint, which is less with this game in particular and more of an issue with the Mega Man series in general, is that I've never been a huge fan of how using the appropriate weapon on the boss which it counters completely neutralizes any semblance of challenge. It's iconic and fun in concept, but it leads to some pretty underwhelming boss battles in practice which results in me usually sticking exclusively to the buster in these fights. I feel like this could probably be resolved simply by further limiting your available ammunition for the boss weapons or by just having the weapon grant you a mechanical advantage ONLY instead of doing so while also dishing out a huge heap of additional damage. Of course, self imposing restrictions on usage of these weapons (as I do) is also a valid solution but it just can't help but feel like a bit of a missed opportunity.